Oath of Death (5e Subclass)
Oath of Death[edit]
A paladin belonging to the Oath of Death strives to keep balance and harmony. Many are said to embody darkness and death itself. They hold themselves to the code of the Oath of the Death to the letter and are widely know to seek out creatures who break the natural cycle of life and death. Their armor and weapons are usually all black depicting death and sometimes contain traces of silver depicting order.
- Tenets of Death
Though the exact words and strictures of the Oath of Death vary, paladins of this oath share these tenets.
Harmony. You shun chaos, deceit, and killing without a just cause and must show mercy to your foes when necessary.
Balance. When you know of a disturbance in nature or order, you must takes steps to correct the problem.
Cycle of Life. You will not allow the resurrection of those who have fallen, even if they are family, friend, or loved one as everyone must die eventually.
| Paladin Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | protection from evil and good, hex |
| 5th | blindness/deafness, darkness |
| 9th | nondetection, speak with dead |
| 13th | banishment, blight |
| 17th | dispel evil and good, antilife shell |
- Channel Divinity
When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.
Forestall Life. As an action, you may invoke the right of death, preventing certain creatures from forestalling their death. Creatures of your choice within 60 feet of you take 1d6 necrotic damage and may not be healed for 1 hour. This damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Protection from Death. If you succeed on a death saving throw, you may regain 1 hit point.
- Shadow Smite
When you choose this oath, you may choose to deal necrotic damage instead of radiant damage with your Divine Smite.
- Deathly Aura
Starting at 7th level, all attack rolls made by creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you are reduced by 1d4. At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet and the attack roll reduction amount increases to 1d6.
- Unnatural Composure
Starting at 15th level, you are able to sustain yourself with magic for long periods of time. You gain the following benefits.
- You no longer require food or water.
- You can go one week without incurring exhaustion from needing to rest.
- You have advantage on Constitution saving throws from magic.
- Deathly Presence
Starting at 20th level, as an action, you can emanate an aura of heavy shadows around yourself. For 1 minute, your aura flairs out around you, protecting you from harm while hampering other creatures. At the start of your turn, you gain temporary hit points equal to your paladin level. Also, any creature that starts their turn with 10 feet of you has disadvantage on Constitution saving throws from magic and has their movement speed reduced by half rounded down until the start of their next turn. Once you use this feature, you can not use it again until you finish a long rest.
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